Sylvan Lake and the Black Hills - My Actifit Report Card: September 13 2026
Hey Actifitters,
Sorry this is going to be a long one with lots of photos but yesterday was a really full day with plenty of great places and hikes.
We started fairly early at Sylvan Lake, a less than 20 minutes drive from our hotel in Custer, SD. We were lucky, it was cloudy enough to produce cool patterns in the sky but the light wasn't bad.
We immediately started on the shoreline trail, an easy 1 mile loop around the lake.
Not only the lake is beautiful, but also its surroundings with big rock formations everywhere.
It was supposed to be all flat and easy, but we must have missed a turn because it became a bit more rocky. Nothing too bad, and it opened up some even better views.
Then we came back onto the easy trail, still not sure where we missed a turn, if we even did.
There's a dam there as well. Not sure if it ever lets water flow, but it looks pretty cool.
Narrow passages in the rocks are always cool too.
Easy trail like I said, mostly paved and flat.
And of course, more lake views with these huge rock formations.
At that point, I went back solo to hike Sunday Gulch Trail. Not super long, maybe 3 or 4 miles but quite steep at time, especially the beginning where you actually have guardrails to help you.
After a while, it opens up into a more regular mountain trail.
And it's even better with the starting fall colors.
And of course, more rock formations among them.
In the afternoon, we started on the Trail #9, but it was a bit too steep for my mother, so we quickly turned back.
Instead, to rest the legs, we drove the Needles Highway, so cool! Super narrow winding road, with one car only tunnels and impressive cliff drop offs.
We didn't follow it all the way, but enough for a few stops and this kind of views.
I wanted to hike some more, so I went for another solo one, Little Devil's Tower trail. For a Satanist like me, obviously I couldn't skip this one. It started great with massive rock formations again and beautiful meadows.
Then I saw this:
Of course that's where I wanted to go! But before that, I met a cute deer family.
And more stunning scenery.
And after a little rock scrambling, I made it to the top and that's really where the reward is!
360 view over this extraordinary scenery!
You can even see Black Elk Peak and its historic stone fire lookout tower, formerly Harney Peak. This is the highest peak in north America, East of the Rocky Mountains. And with that helicopter flying by, it looks even more dramatic. So much I think I will use it for this week #AroundTheWorld contest:
One last during the scrambling down. Like Sheldon says in the Big Bang Theory: "A fear of heights is illogical. A fear of falling, on the other hand, is prudent and evolutionary". Let's take it easy on the way down!
It was already a pretty full day hiking-wise, so we picked an easy one to finish the day: Crazy Horse Memorial carved into the Mountain.
You can take a bus that takes you to the bottom of the mountain for a closer view, but we stuck to the museum, the various displays and the viewing platform. It's probably good enough. And you can also learn about all the social aspect of it with the native American culture.
This is a 1/34th scale model of what the final gigantic sculpture should look like.
The project started in 1948 and is far from over. But the recent progress accelerated and the details now are incredible.
When we left, it was getting dark, and the mist was taking over the memorial, making it look even more magical...
After a Buffalo burger, that was it for this great day. Like I said yesterday, I think the Black Hills and the area are totally worth it. And more to come in my next report...
As always, thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 43.8457 lat -103.5635 long d3scr)
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